Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri
| Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri | |
|---|---|
| Detained at | Guantanamo |
| ISN | 10015 |
| Charge(s) | organizing and directing the 2000 USS Cole bombing, held in extrajudicial detention |
| CSRT Summary |  Works related to CSRT Summary of Evidence memo for Abd Al Rahim Hussein Mohammed Al Nashiri at Wikisource |
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri (Arabic: عبد الرحيم النشيري) is one of the aliases of the Saudi al-Qaeda member Abdul-Rahim Hussein Muhammad 'Abdu[1] (عبد الرحيم حسين محمد عبده). Other aliases include Mullah Bilal, Mohammed Omar al-Harazi, and Abdul Rahman Hussein al-Nashari.[2] He is alleged to be the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing and other terrorist attacks, who headed al-Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf states prior to his capture in November of 2002.
On February 6, 2008, the CIA director General Michael Hayden confirmed that the CIA had used waterboarding on al-Nashiri, along with two other prisoners, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abu Zubayda.[3][4][5]
Background
Born in Saudi Arabia, al-Nashiri travelled to Afghanistan to participate in attacks against the Russians in the region. In 1996 he travelled to Tajikistan and then Jalalabad, where he first met Osama bin Laden.[6] Bin Laden attempted to convince al-Nashiri to join al-Qaeda at this point, but he refused because he found the idea of swearing a loyalty oath to bin Laden to be distasteful. Still, after al-Nashiri travelled to Yemen, he began to consider committing terrorist actions against United States interests.[6]
When he returned to Afghanistan in 1997, he again met bin Laden, but again declined to join in the terrorist group. Instead, he fought with the Taliban against the Afghan Northern Alliance. Still, he assisted in the smuggling of four anti-tank missiles into Saudi Arabia, and helped arrange for a terrorist to get a Yemeni passport. His cousin, Jihad Mohammad Ali al-Makki, was one of the suicide bombers in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya.[6]
Joined al-Qaeda
Finally, probably in 1998, al-Nashiri joined al-Qaeda, reporting directly to bin Laden. In late 1998, he conceived of a plot to attack a U.S. vessel using a boat full of explosives. Bin Laden personally approved of the plan, and provided money for it. First, al-Nashiri attempted to attack the USS The Sullivans as a part of the 2000 millennium attack plots, but the boat he used was overloaded with explosives and began to sink.[6]
The next attempt, however, the USS Cole bombing, was successful. 17 U.S. sailors were killed, and many more were injured. This success brought him fame and respect within al-Qaeda, and al-Nashiri became the chief of operations for the Arabian Peninsula.[6] He organized the Limburg tanker bombing in 2002, and he may have planned other attacks as well.
Arrest
In November 2002, al-Nashiri was captured in the United Arab Emirates.[2] He is currently in American military custody in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp,[1] having previously been held at some secret location. On September 29, 2004, he was sentenced to death in absentia in a Yemeni court for his role in the USS Cole bombing.
The U.S. military put al-Rahim al-Nashiri in prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Pentagon said March 14 2008. He was held by the CIA for an undisclosed amount of time.[7]
- That he had been a bomb-maker.
- That he traveled on a forged passport.
- That he arranged to have a small boat rented just prior to the USS Cole bombing.[8]
The full verbatim transcript from his Tribunal ended up bin thirty-six pages long, after extensive redactions were made from the portions when he responded to questions about his claims that his confessions were the result of torture.[9]
Claims of torture
Abd al-Rahim attributed his confessions of involvement in the USS Cole bombing to torture.[10] All the details Abd al-Rahim offered of his claims of torture were redacted from his transcript.[9][11]
In his opening statement, al-Nashiri listed seven false confessions he had been induced to make while under torture.[9]
- The French Merchant Vessel Limburg incident.
- The USS Cole bombing.
- The rockets in Saudi Arabia.
- The plan to bomb American ships in the gulf.
- Relationship with people committing bombings in Saudi Arabia.
- Usama Bin Laden having a nuclear bomb.
- A plan to hijack a plane and crash it into a ship.
During the course of his Tribunal he claimed additional confessions he had made, while being tortured.
See also
References
- ^ a b Biographies of 14 detainees, Office of the Director of National Intelligence Cite error: The named reference "odni14" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b "U.S.: Top al Qaeda operative arrested". CNN. 2002-11-22.
- ^
Price, Caitlin. "CIA chief confirms use of waterboarding on 3 terror detainees". University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
{{cite web}}: Text "Jurist Legal News & Research" ignored (help) - ^ "CIA finally admits to waterboarding" (HTML). The Australian. 2008-02-07. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Shane, Scott (June 22, 2008). "Inside a 9/11 Mastermind's Interrogation". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d e National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (2004). "Chapter 5". 9/11 Commission Report.
- ^ "Bin Laden associate transferred from CIA to Gitmo". CNN. 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b
OARDEC (February 8, 2007). "Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal -- Al Nashiri, Abd Al Rahim Hussein Mohammed" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 1-2. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
{{cite web}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Check date values in:|date=(help) Cite error: The named reference "CsrtSummaryOfEvidenceAbdAlRahimAlNashiri" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ a b c
OARDEC (March 14, 2007). "Verbatim Transcript of Open Session Combatant Status Review Tribunal Hearing for ISN 10015" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. pp. pages 1-36. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
{{cite web}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^
Gabriel Haboubi (March 30, 2007). "Guantanamo detainee says torture prompted confession to USS Cole bombing". The Jurist. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^
Lolita C. Baldor (March 30, 2007). "Suspect at Guantanamo Claims Torture". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)